Beverly Sills has Died

Beverly Sills, the legendary opera soprano and a generous supporter of the arts, has died at the age of 78. Sills suffered from inoperable lung cancer and succumbed to the illness yesterday, July 2, 2007. Sills, who was a nonsmoker, passed away in her Manhattan home and will be sincerely missed by all who knew her and by all who were touched by her incredible voice and her generosity.

Born Belle Miriam Silverman in May of 1929, Sills made her operatic debut in 1947 and quickly rose to stardom in 1955 with her perfromance in Die Fledermaus at the New York City Opera. Having performed in such operas as Manon, Giulio Cesare, Lucia di Lammermoore and The Magic Flute as well as Don Giovanni. Having retired from performing in 1980, Sills continued to support the performing arts, and in 2002 the Metropolitan Opera asked her to sit on its board, a role she held for two years before she retired for health and family reasons.

Beverly Sills was an incredible addition to the opera world, never mind her active role in supporting the arts as a whole. Her presence will be missed, and she will be forever remembered. For your chance to take in some of the performing arts events that Beverly Sills helped to support, make sure you visit stubhub.com today!

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